Jewelry By Gail sparkles with custom designs and styles

by Summer Stevens

Gail Kowalski credits the neighborhood bully for her success.

She was five years old and she’d come home four days in a row with bumps and bruises. “She was jealous and she was beating the crap out of me,” Kowalski said. Finally, her mother had had enough. She told her daughter that the only way to stop it was to hit her back. And that ended it. “And we became friends,” Kowalski laughed. “But it took my mother saying, ‘You have the power to stop this.’ And I did. It was very empowering.”

To make a living as an artist, one has to be empowered. “My parents never told me I couldn’t do it,” she said. “It’s the best gift I ever got.”

Kowalski’s interest in rocks started in her early years. She recounted her amazement when her neighbors in her native city of Pittsburgh had a load of beautiful shining rocks delivered for their driveway. “I sat in the driveway and picked out my favorites. I called them my lucky bag of rocks.” When her mother discovered the rocks under her bed, she made Kowalski return them. “You can keep your favorites,” the neighbor said. And so her love of stones had begun.

The love carried her through college at Siena Heights in Adrian, Michigan. “I enmeshed myself in the fine arts program,” she said. “I loved it.” Though she was successful at various forms of artwork, Kowalski knew jewelry making was her path. “I cannot fathom anything more exciting.”

After college she moved to the Outer Banks, which had been her family’s vacation destination since she was eight years old. “It was just love at first experience, for all of us,” she said. “We lived at the beach the whole two weeks we were here.” By ninth grade, she told her best friend in English class that when she grew up, she would move to Nags Head and open her own store and make jewelry.

Summer Stevens photo

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Summer Stevens photo

A look inside Jewelry by Gail.

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But, as she soon discovered, not many people who graduate with an art degree go on to create art for a living. When she would reconnect with her talented colleagues and discover that no one was in the fine arts field, she was astounded. “There are just no jobs,” they would say. But Kowalski was determined to follow her dreams. So in 1977 she started Jewelry By Gail at the R&R Junction as an independent artist. In 1982, she moved a few blocks down the road to her current location and renovated a few years later. “I can’t believe it’s been 44 years,” she said.

Her style has changed over the years, but the source of her inspiration has not. Kowalski looks to the rhythm of the sea and the movement of the waves when she designs her signature organic fluid style of jewelry. As she describes her process, “There’s always discovery, no matter what. A stone talks to you. If the stone doesn’t agree, it won’t happen. I know it sounds crazy but that’s the way it is.” Each piece of jewelry she makes is unique. She rarely makes symmetrical pieces; instead she creates “asymmetrically balanced” jewelry. Even earrings are not identical, though when together, they’re a seamless match.

Kowalski specializes in one-of-a-kind jewelry, either displayed in the showroom or made by customer order. The second room at the shop features jewelry made by other design partners. Clients seeking a custom piece will select several styles they like, then talk with Kowalski about the type of jewelry they want and who it’s for. Unlike many artists, she doesn’t start with a drawing. “So much of it is feeling,” Kowalski said. “I look at the hand, the finger, the finger joint. Somehow you translate that person into whatever design style they’ve chosen.”

After more than four decades of creating custom jewelry, she’s only had two or three clients unhappy with the end result. As a rule, Kowalski senses exactly the desire of her clients. Symbiotically, that’s her greatest joy as well. “The piece isn’t done until the right person is wearing it,” she said, “knowing you made that connection, you got it right.”

Getting it right is a team effort. Gold/ silversmith Eric Fewox is Kowalski’s righthand bench assistant. They work together in design, gem selection and settings, as well as in restyling or resetting jewelry. Randy Snider serves as master stonecutter and Mark Womack does marketing and maintains the website and social media accounts.

Jewelry By Gail offers not only unique jewelry, but unique processes as well. They do design techniques called splash, torch fusion, seaweed, woven and wave, each unique but with the similar themes of flowing water that runs through them all. Splash elements are created by dropping molten gold into water – the result is gold that bursting with movement and life.

One piece, a naturally fish-shaped pearl atop a splash and seaweed design. Says the product description: “This fish appears to be surfing gold waves with a champagne diamond sparkling in the sunlit sea.” The pendant costs $5,200.

Some items are more, some are less than $100. “I try to hit a lot of price ranges,” Kowalski said. If someone desires a piece of custom jewelry, the shop serves a wide range of budgets.

Jewelry By Gail is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday at 207 E Driftwood Street in Nags Head or find them online at www.jewelrybygail.com. 

Summer Stevens photo

A close look at Kowalski’s o erings.